You Are Not An “Average” User
August 8, 2012 
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It is a false assumption to think everyone is like you. That they use the web the same way, the same networks, the same devices. To take this perspective will greatly hurt you from either the product-side or the agency-side.
And yet I see examples of this time and time again. “Oh, everyone is on X network because I use it every day, so we should market there.” Or, “no one clicks ads because I don’t click ads.” Both are false assumptions of course. A diverse amount of popular networks exist (whether you use them or not) and in fact, well crafted ads following the right strategy can produce huge returns.
There is a danger in thinking you are the average user or that your use of technology represents everyone else’s. The only way to truly understand the situation for your brand is to dig into your user data and find your own truth. Web personalities or media can pontificate all they like, but if you want to understand reality you are going to need to do some work and ignore the easy answers.
When you do find the answers, realize it is likely not going to be a 1 or 2 thing world, but a 10 or even 20 thing world: you’re going to need to optimize for multiple platforms and devices as well as be active on several networks. This is the nature of the modern digital landscape and the new norm means fluency across many specializations.
And remember, you are likely not an “average” user, it is in most cases limiting to think everyone is like you.
image credit: Shutterstock
Frank Strong replied | Aug 9, 2012 (8 comments)
It’s definitely a big blind spot for many, myself included. And it’s real eye opening when you look at data that provides a completely different conclusion than the assumption. Been running into that a lot lately.
Petar Tchavdarov replied | Aug 14, 2012 (1 comment)
Surely this is something to take into account when developing your business. Most people rely on their own understanding without basing it on hard data. We tackled this problem developing our online socks shop at http://www.thesocks.com conducting large number of surveys to determine people’s preferences concerning the product. The results were stunningly different from our own views.
Harley@plumbing mckinney replied | Aug 16, 2012 (1 comment)
When we are introducing a product, we make sure that we explain every smallest detail since our audience range from non-to-average user. This is important to let them know how important your product to them, thanks for the post!
Michael john replied | Aug 31, 2012 (2 comments)
That’s right lol and it happens most of the time with me…
Nice work :)
Thanks
Jon Stinchcomb replied | Sep 24, 2012 (2 comments)
You’re absolutely right. It’s an easy mistake to make. I think unless you’re used to ignoring the inclination, it can be something that you have to go out of your way to fix. Looking at the data analytics and keeping it in mind is probably one of the easiest ways.